Fat fish and other delightful denizens of the deep
Vanessa Frida | The New Paper | Tue Jul 3 2012
Singapore, July 3, 2012
It took me some time to come around to appreciate fish.
As a child, I loved fish fingers, which my dad would fry on a Saturday morning.
But when my parents tried to “upgrade” me to the real deal, it didn’t sit well with me.
This was because I didn’t like the taste of fish – it smelled funny and the texture was quite off-putting.
This changed when I was in boarding school. Fish was served every Friday.
I had a choice – eat it or go hungry. Slowly, I started to enjoy it.
Today, I often order fish when dining out, but I’m still quite picky about it.
It has to taste of fish, but it must not be “fishy” in taste and, in general, I prefer oilier fish.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I sat down with Mr Alan Lee, a fishmonger at Greenwood Fish Market, to learn a bit more about the varieties of fish we get here.
OCEAN TROUT
This is one of my favourites when I have a craving for fish.
Ocean trout looks and tastes very similar to salmon. It has the same firmness and is bright orange to red, with distinct marbling.
The difference between the two is that ocean trout is about 30 per cent richer in fish oil compared to salmon.
This means it won’t dry out as quickly.
Like salmon, it’s very versatile – you can bake, poach, barbecue, pan-fry, grill or smoke it.
At Greenwood Fish Market, most customers want their ocean trout hot-smoked – where wood chips are used to smoke the fish at temperatures above 84 deg C until it is cooked.
This gives additional flavour and retains more of the fish oil.
This versatile fish can be used as a substitute for any recipe that calls for a fish with a higher fat content, like salmon, rainbow trout and cod.
SALMON
Salmon has a bold, rich flavour and a buttery texture. You can apply the same cooking techniques to it as the ocean trout.
There are two basic types of salmon – Pacific and Atlantic.
There are seven species of Pacific salmon, but just one native species of Atlantic salmon.
Due to high demand, most of the salmon in our supermarkets are farmed.
If you can find wild salmon I highly recommend it. There’s a great difference as wild salmon has a more vibrant hue and is more flavourful.
MAHI MAHI
This ugly beast used to be called dolphin fish.
It was renamed to avoid association with the aquatic mammal and to improve sales.
Its tender but firm flesh has a moist and flaky texture, and while it has a relatively strong fishy flavour, it is very sweet and not fishy in smell.
Its flesh has a pink-to creamy-white appearance and typically, there is a small vein along the centre fillet.
Mahi mahi can be served sashimi style, but it is grilled or pan-fried to retain its original flavour most often.
It is best cooked quickly on high heat because it is not an oily fish and can dry out if overcooked.
This fish also keeps well frozen.
If wrapped well, it can be kept in the freezer for up to two months.
JOHN DORY
A scaleless flat fish, olive-green or grey in colour, with a large black spot on each side.
With a large head and a huge extendible mouth, this isn’t a pretty fish.
It makes up for its lack of looks with taste.
The pearly-white flesh has a delicate flavour with a fine grain texture.
It commands a high market price because it has a fair degree of wastage thanks to the size of the head, and because it’s so flat, there is a scarcity of boneless flesh.
Mr Lee says about 65 per cent of the fish is not usable.
But once filleted, it has hardly any bones, which makes it a favourite for fish and chips.
It also works well steamed, grilled or, (and this is my personal favourite), lightly seasoned and pan-fried in olive oil.
KAMPACHI/HRAMASA
This fish is very difficult to find in Singapore.
Most of the stock stays in Japan and it is usually only found in premium restaurants here.
Because cooking often ruins the flavour, this fish is often served as sashimi.
The flesh is firm, quite similar to threadfin, but it has a creamy aftertaste.